March 1, 2009
November 6, 2009
November 6, 2009
Actress Vivian Hsu will soon start work on the new Taiwanese movie Seediq Bale, directed by Wei Te Sheng, who also directed last year’s Cape No 7.
Vivian plays the lead role in the movie that portrays the Wushe Incident, a 1930 Seediq uprising led by Mona Rudao against the Japanese when Taiwan was colonised.
The Seediq are Taiwanese aboriginal people who, along with the Truku people, were previously classified as the Atayal tribe.
She said: “I won’t be speaking any Mandarin in the movie at all. Instead, I would have to speak Japanese and Seediq.”
The movie is due to film for half a year and will be completed in 2011.
It is budgeted at $21 million.
Treasure Hunter poster featuring Jay Chou
Bodyguards and Assassins main poster
The difficulty in fitting all the cast took three months before finalizing the poster.
World premiere will be in Nanjing Nov. 12 where Sun Yat-Sen’s mausoleum is located.
THR: Tang Wei returns in ‘Manchu’ remake
‘Lust, Caution’ actress coming off ban, stars in English film
“Full Autumn” in Korean — by Kim Tae-yong (“Family Ties”) will start shooting later this month in Seattle, and will travel to other cities across the United States, the Korean producer said…
THR: Hong Kong movies make a dramatic showing at the boxoffice
Four local films got into the top 10 in the summer: the Shaw Brothers’ comeback “Turning Point” (HK15.7 million), “Overheard” from the “Infernal Affairs” team (HK15.5 million), Edko’s Aaron Kwok thriller “Murderer” (HK11.7 million) and period comedy “On His Majesty’s Secret Service” (HK8.8 million). Only two made the cut last summer…Although the number of local releases rose slightly in 2009, what’s staggering is the upcoming Chinese New Year public holiday slot, which will see 10 Hong Kong/Chinese-language high-profile projects competing in three weeks in February. It’s something the which hasn’t been seen since the 1990s….
THR: AFM Special Report: Hong Kong
Boxoffice may be up, but the outlook is troubled
“If there (were) enough films to make in Hong Kong, I’d rather not go anywhere else,” says [Herman] Yau, the hugely prolific Hong Kong director who works with three crews simultaneously — even while many technicians have followed the helmers to the mainland. “Although a large number of Hong Kong filmmakers are now working in China,” he says, “they can’t bring all the film crews with them, so there’re still a lot of local crew members stranded here, unemployed.”
THR: ‘Bodyguards and Assassins’ sells at AFM
Cinema Popular also is shopping its action-romantic comedy “The Return of the Incredible Wu Xia Couple,” directed by Vincent Kuk, and Dante Lam’s period actioner “Flying Guillotines” at AFM.
THR: Jung to star in ‘Rain of Swords’
Film co-stars Michelle Yeoh, co-produced by John Woo
Screen Daily: TF1 buys Media Asia’s Chen Zhen for France
Hong Kong’s Media Asia Distribution has sold The Legend Of Chen Zhen, directed by Andrew Lau and starring Donnie Yen, to France’s TF1.
Leading Hong Kong action star Yen plays Chen Zhen in the film, a folk hero who fights the Shanghai mafia and occupying Japanese. Shu Qi and Anthony Wong also star…Meanwhile, Dream Movies also took rights for Australia and New Zealand to Pang Ho-chueng’s Love In A Puff, a comedy starring Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue, and Johnnie To’s new project, Death Of A Hostage, starring Lau Ching Wan.
Zhang Yimou’s remake of Blood Simple [Amazing Tales: Three Guns] has bought its release forward from December 18 to December 11, while Hong King Universe’s The Storm Warriors has shifted its release to December 10. Jay Chou-starring Treasure Hunter will be released on December 9 instead of mid-month as originally planned, and Ning Hao’s road movie Wu Ren Qu [No Man's Land] will move back its release by three months to March next year…
Variety: CineAsia honors Zhou Xun
Actress to receive star of the year kudo
Variety: The Laughing Policeman (Japan)
Wheat (長平大戰之麥田)
What first might appear to be another tiresome period costumer about one of the millions of battles in China’s history turns out to be something rather different. Two deserters from the Qin army in the Warring States period lucklessly find themselves in an enemy town whose men are away fighting. Their lies and ingratiations with the women gradually wear thin — especially as others arrive with contradictory news. This meticulously photographed drama-comedy is structured around elemental themes, of which wheat, the local crop, is prominent. Directed by He Ping (何平), who made The Swordsman in Double Flag Town
Meat Grinder
(雙旗鎮刀客).
A coming-on-middle-aged street vendor projects her madness and history of abuse onto (mostly) unsuspecting, sleazy men — and cooks up a storm. Surprisingly good reviews greeted this gory Thai drama, which is right up there with Hong Kong’s The Untold Story (八仙飯店之人肉叉燒包) as a boundary-pushing, gag-inducing Asian incarnation of Sweeney Todd; it’s also a perfectly timed essay for people who think US beef is the sign of the Devil. Abstruse political subtexts (it’s set during student riots in the 1970s) and class and gender commentary … or blood, guts and torture for their own sake? Take your pick. Taiwan’s censors have let this one through without cuts, though it isn’t clear if this is the version originally banned in Thailand. Either way, here’s the question: Why doesn’t Taiwan make movies like this?
4 new Three Guns images in HD (Sina)
CRI: Stefanie Sun Sings for Mulan
Let The Bullets Fly
Ge You
Carina Lau plays Ge You’s wife
CRI: ‘Bullets’ Go Stylish (HD version Sina)
Gong Beibi and Aaron Kwok
Oxide Pang has started shooting B+Detective, the sequel to C+Detective (aka The Detective) in Thailand. (HunanTV)
Li Xiaolu and Alfred Cheung (actor, director, writer)
Love At Seventh Sight (lit.Seven Days To Fall in Love)
All’s Well Ends Well 2010 costumes - Angelababy
Lynn Xiong (Sina)
November 5, 2009
November 5, 2009
Treasure Hunter
Treasure Hunter - Lin Chi-Ling, Jay Chou
14 Blades
Donnie Yen and Zhao Wei
A first rough cut of 14 Blades, prior to post production special effects and music, was screened in Hong Kong to industry insiders and it has garnered applause and predictions of a big box office. With a goal of HK$200M it is expected to earn HK$300M. The film reportedly has a mix of romance for the women and action for the men. Zhao Wei’s performance is said to be ‘beyond all previous works’. In the past, Zhao Wei was considered box office poison, now with Red Cliff, Painted Skin and 14 Blades, she will become China’s first actress to make 3 films with over $200M earnings and make her the Queen of Costumes. (Sina) (2)
Vivan Chow and Sandra Ng on set of Ann Hui’s latest film. (Sina)
Jane Zhang Liangying will sing the main theme song Mulan Star in Mulan. Previously, it was reported that Stefanie Sun would sing the theme song for the Mulan MV. (cri)
Jane also sings the theme song for Panda Express (Nov.20 release). (Sina)
Xie Na
Listen to the catchy song Earth Welcomes You from the Lunar New Year sci-fi comedy Mars is OK (?)(originally Mars Baby) sung by actress Xie Na (Tracing Shadow). [Audio caution] (Sina)
Andrew Lau plans next year to shoot a Storm Warriors style film based on a popular manga series Abi Sword. He plans to invite Shu Qi, Jay Chou and Wu Zun in the leading roles. (Sina) (Teaser)
THR: Zhang Ziyi on board for ‘Flower’
To star in and co-produce English-language drama “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”
THR: ‘Simple’ remake more funny than bloody - Three Guns
Next decade could be ‘glorious,’ Zhang Yimou says of Chinese films
Zhang said his new film has shades of Chow’s signature nonsensical humor, but doesn’t go as far as the Hong Kong comedian known for “Shaolin Soccer” and “Kung Fu Hustle.”
“There are some parts where we go crazy like Stephen Chow, but we don’t go as crazy,” he said.
Shooting in digital format for the first time, Zhang said he was more prone to letting his actors experiment because he didn’t have to conserve film.
Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival opens with 2 Asian films
Taiwanese director Cheng Wen-tang’s “Tears” and Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s “The Wolf and the Warrior” opened the Golden Horse Film Festival Thursday.
Media Asia at 15
The Warrior and The Wolf (Hollywood Reporter review)
The Warrior and the Wolf
By Deborah Young
Bottom Line: Disconnected Chinese costumer is a sexy fable with sumptuous visuals.
ROME — In this epic wartime romance set in western China 2,000 years ago, the main attractions are the visual pageantry of the landscape and the sexual chemistry between highly photogenic protagonists — Japanese star Joe Odagiri and Hawaiian actress Maggie Q, as a chic young warrior and a wolf-woman, respectively.
The evergreen fascination of Chinese costumers pulls “The Warrior and the Wolf” through some seriously incomprehensible scripting and a surprisingly short supply of exciting effects and battle scenes. Beyond Asian territories, few are likely to have the privilege of enjoying cinematographer Wang Yu’s elegantly lensing on the big screen, and will have to settle for video.
Veteran writer-director Tian Zhuangzhuang’s early interest in China’s ethnic minorities (”The Horse Thief”) resurfaces in this magical genre tale, based on a novel by Yasushi Inoue. But film is more a series of anecdotes than a tied-together story geared to emotional build-up.
Entire chapters of the novel are summarized in on-screen type, setting the scene in the Kumlan mountains, where fierce nomadic tribes have long been battling the army of the Imperial Court. Curiously, winter snows are so heavy that the war has to be put on hold; soldiers go home to wait for the spring thaw and more fighting.
Lu (Joe Odagiri) is a simple, good-looking shepherd who distinguishes himself by adopting a wolf cub. One day he crosses paths with the formidable general Zhang (played by Taiwanese actor Tou Chung-hua). Though it’s never spelled out, viewers will sense a strong mutual attraction between the two men, without which the ending is incomprehensible.
Under Zhang’s tutoring, Lu is quickly transformed into another bloodthirsty fighter lusting to kill. In the rare battle scenes, the barbaric cruelty and axe-swinging of yesteryear is accompanied by heavy grunts and groans. When Gen. Zhang loses a battle, he expects his superiors to execute him, but evidently they don’t, or he wouldn’t be back in the final scenes.
Time passes and Lu is now a commander. He has also lost a big battle and expects the worst on his return. When a heavy snowfall catches his retreating troops, they take shelter in a tribal village inhabited by the cursed Harran people, who live by night and in the daytime hide away in wolf-like dens.
In the hut he has appropriated, Lu stumbles over a bundle of fur and discovers a beautiful, wild Harran widow (Maggie Q) underneath. When he rapes her, she announces she will be turned into a wolf for copulating with a non-Harran. The film’s final third is happily devoted to the passionate animal-like couplings and secret, forbidden love between a man and a woman who have no future and nothing to lose.
There seems to be a lot of missing narrative in this visually sumptuous production, which is enjoyable enough as a sexy fable. Odagiri and Maggie Q are bigger-than-life performers, able to compete with the extraordinary landscapes, and endow these heroes of yore with dignity and fascination, if not emotional depth.
Venue: Rome Film Festival
Production companies: BDI Films, Sky Eagle Worldwide Holdings
Cast: Joe Odagiri, Maggie Q, Tou Chung-hua
Director/screenwriter: Tian Zhuangzhuang
Based on a novel by: Yasushi Inoue
Producer: Bill Kong, Hao Li, Satoru Ogura, Han Sanping
Director of photography: Wang Yu
Production designer: Liu Weixin
Music: Evgeny Galperine, Sasha Galperine, Du Wei, Zhao Li
Costume designer: Emi Wada
Editor: Wenders Li
Sales: Fortissimo Films
No rating, 104 minutes
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/the-warrior-and-the-wolf-film-review-1004032831.story
November 4, 2009
November 4, 2009
Nic Tse’s fighting form for Bodyguards and Assassins (Sina)
The Robbers
Hu Jun
Jiang Wu
Horror film, Midnight Taxi poster resembles Saw style. It gets a national release Nov.17.
Gao Qunshu has relinquished the title ‘Four Marshals’ to Gordon Chan. His film is now titled ‘Fierce West Wind‘. Together with his film The Message (lit.Wind Sound or Sound of the Wind) and a film scheduled to start in May that is based on a novel that also has ‘Wind’ in the title, the three will therefore form his ‘Wind Trilogy’. (Xinhua)
Takeshi Kaneshiro considering a career advancement in Hollywood (2)
Screen Daily: EMP adds Stool Pigeon to star-studded AFM slate
Li Xiaolu
Love At Seventh Sight, directed by Alfred Cheung, opens Nov. 3. Love is a road romance, Mike He plays a sound engineer from Hong Kong and Li plays a Beijing girl. (Sina)
Mainland theaters ready promotional materials for Storm Warriors, opening Dec.10 Twenty cities nationwide have slotted the film in its prime movie house. Already, female moviegoers are clamoring for the posters featuring Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng. Golden Harvest and Chengtian has been giving out free monthly ‘Wind and Cloud’ magazines to heighten the anticipation. (Sina)
THR: Polybona plans NYSE listing
Third Chinese film studio readies IPO for late 2010 or 2011
“The capital markets are starting to recognize Chinese movie studios”
Lan (Variety review)
Lan
Women tian shang jian
(China) A Beijing Asian Union Culture & Media Investment Co. production. (International sales: Asia Union, Beijing.) Produced by Dong Ping, Jiang Wenli. Executive producer, Liu Xiaolin. Directed, written by Jiang Wenli.
With: Zhu Xu, Yao Jun, Zhu Yinuo, Ma Sichun, Hu Qiuyan, Liu Ye.
(Mandarin dialogue)
By DEREK ELLEY
At age 40, mainland Chinese actress Jiang Wenli (”And the Spring Comes,” “Lost Indulgence”) makes a smooth segue behind the camera with autobiographical coming-of-ager “Lan.” Cultural Revolution-set tale of a young girl, whose dream of becoming a champion gymnast is scuppered by the realities of everyday life and family background, is handled with grace and feeling, and is notably light on the political cliches besetting stories of the era. The audience-award winner at this year’s Pusan fest, this unabashedly old-school movie (in the best sense) is ripe for festival and Euro TV exposure, with some limited theatrical potential as well.
Stylistically, the film is like a less arty version of “Peacock,” directed by Jiang’s husband, lenser-helmer Gu Changwei. But that takes nothing away from Jiang’s accomplishments here: Every setup is beautifully composed and lit, never pushed beyond an average viewer’s patience, and the movie has a refined sensibility that doesn’t shy away from emotion or occasional flights of fancy. It’s a sure crowdpleaser at fests.
Jiang Xiaolan (Yao Jun) is a young girl in an unnamed railway town on the southern bank of the Huai River, the traditional dividing line between North and South China. Branded as “rightists,” her parents have been sent to a labor camp in remote Xinjiang, so she’s raised by her grandpa, Tang (Zhu Xu). Because of her family name (the same as that of KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek), she’s teased by other schoolkids as a “bastard of counterrevolutionaries.”
Though the politics of the Cultural Revolution are aways in the background, they’re sensed rather than made explicit, and the pic is almost entirely free of the usual banner-waving scenes. Portrait of everyday life is remembered by the main character — her childhood dreams, home life with grandpa, etc.
Grudgingly admitted into the local gymnastics club, she’s kept apart from the official athletes but continues to be inspired by local champ Jiang Shaoyi and Romania’s Nadia Comaneci. Meanwhile, her grandfather makes her a leotard like the other girls’ and builds a bar in the garden for her to practice on.
The old man also keeps the fiction alive that her parents will one day return from their patriotic work “turning the desert into fertile land,” and also entertains her with tales from his youth as a train driver. But as the Cultural Revolution nears its end in 1976, and Xiaolan (now played, seamlessly, by Zhu Yinuo) enters puberty, he succumbs to old age, with Xiaolan caring for him and taking on more adult duties.
Pic is full of memorable images that aren’t especially new in Chinese cinema, but fit together into a beguiling portrait. A sequence in which Xiaolan imagines herself flying above the town sounds too cute on paper but plays absolutely right dramatically.
Jiang’s controlled direction and the delicate, staccato score by Evgueni Galperine (”The Warrior and the Wolf”) keep the movie free of sentimentality, as do the perfs by veteran Zhu (an old hand at such roles) and the two young Xiaolan thesps. Supporting players are equally well drawn, especially Ma Sichuan as Xiaolan’s older neighbor and Hu Qiuyan as Xiaolan’s mom. Mainland star Liu Ye cameos as Li’s b.f.
Chinese title means “We’ll Meet in Heaven.” English subtitles on print caught badly need revising, including converting the names into Chinese style.
Camera (color), Lin Liangzhong; editors, Yang Hongyu, Liu Jiami; music, Evgueni Galperine; production designer, Feng Ligang; art director, Song Zhen; costume designer, Xiang Honghui; sound (Dolby Digital), An Wei, Ye Dan, Li Shuo, Shen Jianqin; special effects, Wang Hongli; visual effects, China Film Post; visual effects supervisors, Xu Xin, Li Liping; assistant director, Qi Dagang. Reviewed at Pusan Film Festival (New Currents), Oct. 10, 2009. Running time: 89 MIN.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941543.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
November 3, 2009
Talentime (Malaysia)(Variety review)
Talentime
(Malaysia) A Chilli Pepper Films production. (International sales: Primeworks Studios, Selangor, Malaysia.) Produced by Mohammad Effendy Harjoh. Executive producers, Ahmad Puad Onah, Faszil Manap. Directed, written by Yasmin Ahmad.
With: Pamela Chong Ven-teen, Mahesh Jugal Kishor, Mohammed Redzuan Adamshah, Jaclyn Victor.
By RUSSELL EDWARDS
Somewhere between understated and underdeveloped, “Talentime,” the swan song of Yasmin Ahmad, who died in July at age 51, reveals a writer-director granted insufficient time to reach her full potential. The story of two school talent-show contestants and their extended families, this slight pic offers a cross-section of contempo Malaysian life with hints of its religious, racial and social complexities. Already the subject of a 2006 Tokyo fest retro, Ahmad has received similar tributes — with “Talentime” headlining — across the fest circuit this year. But even within Southeast Asia, the pic underperformed in commercial venues.
Love blossoms (but drama plods) as comely singer Meleur (Pamela Chong Ven-teen) falls for mute student Mahesh (Mahesh Jugal Kishor), who’s assigned to drive her to rehearsals. Whether it be Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” or Pete Teo’s cute love songs, music provides a much-needed boost to Ahmad’s material, but unscored sections are marked by awkward silences, with clumsy comedy relief. Thesps utter jokes and straight lines with little sense of their meaning, as if the dialogue had been rehearsed to death. Snappier editing could get the pic up on its feet.
Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), Low Soon-keong; editors, Raja Affandy, Raja Jamaluddin; music, Pete Teo; production designer, Wong Voon-leong. Reviewed at Tokyo Film Festival (Winds of Asia), Oct. 20, 2009. (Also in Pusan Film Festival — Winds of Asia.) Malay, English, Tamil dialogue. Running time: 115 MIN.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941535.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
Murderer (Variety review)
Murderer
Satyan fan
(Hong Kong-U.S.) An Edko Film (in Hong Kong) release of a Focus Features Intl. (U.S.)/Hero Focus Group, Sil-Metropole Organization (Hong Kong) presentation of an Eastern (Hong Kong) Film Prod. production. (International sales: Edko Films, Hong Kong.) Produced by Candy Leung, Cheung Hong-tat. Executive producers, Chui Po-chiu, Song Dai. Co-producer, Stephen Lam. Directed by Roy Chow. Screenplay, Christine To.
With: Aaron Kwok, Janine Chang, Cheung Siu-fai, Tam Chun-yat, Chen Kuan-tai, Chin Ka-lok, Wong You-nam, Josie Ho, Teddy Lin, Michelle Ye.
(Cantonese, Mandarin dialogue)
By DEREK ELLEY
An amazing amount of talent is wasted on psychothriller “Murderer,” whose chief culprits are first-time director Roy Chow (previously an assistant to Ang Lee) and scripter Christine To (”Fearless,” “Secret”). After an impressively edgy start and an audience-teasing midsection, the pic sinks at the 80-minute mark with a twist that’s outrageous even by genre standards and direction that abandons its previously atmospheric style. Pic tanked in Hong Kong on its July release and has only a minor cult career on ancillary to look forward to.
Shot in saturated, slightly lurid colors by ace lenser Mark Lee and moodily scored by Japanese vet Shigeru Umebayashi (”2046″), the pic starts like gangbusters with the sudden bone-crunching fall of Hong Kong cop Tai (vet Chen Kuan-tai) while hunting a serial killer who drains blood from his victims with a power drill. Tai’s partner, Inspector Ling (Aaron Kwok), is found at the scene with temporary memory loss.
All the clues progressively point toward Ling being implicated, and his only defender is his buddy, “Ghost” (Cheng Siu-fai), who’s handed the case while Ling rests. To add to his problems, Ling has three days in his diary he can’t account for, and even his wife (Taiwan’s Janine Chang, speaking Mandarin throughout) and adopted young son (Tam Chun-yat) can’t remember what he did.
As Ling tries to prove his innocence — between ghoulish memory flashes — the evidence against him mounts on all fronts. Even Ghost discovers that all three of the serial killer’s victims were childhood neighbors of Ling.
The big reveal is not only laughably out there but also is explained by the murderer in a speech that’s so long it actually becomes boring — and there’s still a half-hour to go.
Kwok, who’s taking much more “serious” roles nowadays, overdoes the intensity of his confused character to diminishing effect. Other thesps punch the clock, including Josie Ho, who’s spliced in as Ling’s sister for no apparent reason.
Camera (color), Mark Lee; editor, Cheung Ka-fai; music, Shigeru Umebayashi; production designer, Man Lim-chung; costume designer, Eddy Yeung; sound (Dolby Digital), Chan Wai-hung; sound designer, George Lee; visual effects supervisor, Victor Wong. Reviewed at Pusan Film Festival (Midnight Passion), Oct. 12, 2009. Running time: 119 MIN.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941524.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
November 2, 2009
November 2, 2009
Mulan opens November 27
Amazing Tales: Three Guns (Dec.10, earlier reported as Dec.11)
Ning Hao’s No Man Land/No Man’s Land (Dec.18)
Other release dates: The Robbers/Tang Dynasty Brothers, Panda Express (Nov.20), Bodyguards and Assassins (Dec.18), Still unconfirmed: Treasure Hunter,14 Blades, Little Big Soldier, Confucius. (cri.cn)
Stephen Chow
Spotted outside a Hong Kong Jockey Club event, Stephen Chow said he will begin shooting a film next year. A noted bicycling enthusiast often seen riding about the city, reporters suggested a Shaolin Bicycle film would be appropriate. Asked if he was taking advantage of the real estate market to make big money, Chow was evasive. (Sina)
Ann Hui has not decided whether a kissing scene between Vivian Chow and Chan Wei-Ting will be necessary. (Sina)
Aaron Kwok
Josie Ho
Josie, Aaron, Director Roy Chow, Christine To (writer)
Murderer aka Crime and Punishment promotion in Guangzhou. The ending was changed and the violence toned down in order to play in the Mainland. Josie Ho hoped that her Dream Homes would be accepted for screening with edits from director Pang Ho-Cheung. (Sina) (Xinhua)
CCTV: Remake of the classic “Mulan”
Actress Zhao Wei said, “I have dressed like a man before, but it was all about being funny. This time, I have to actually perform like a man. I’m not sure if the audience will think I’m really manly in this film. Director Ma has been devoted in sculpting my part and Chen Kun’s role. So the movie is going to be very romantic.”
CCTV: Stephen Fung’s Jump
Hong Kong actor, singer, model, writer and film director Stephen Fung’s third directorial effort “Jump” will come out soon to be screened for the year-end season. Fung has recently embarked on an intensive promotional campaign around China in hopes that it will help his movie “Jump” over some fierce box office competition…
THR: ‘Stool Pigeon’ starts filming in HK
‘Beast Stalker’ team returns with police story
[T]he first-ever recipient of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress, is making a comeback with a new indie film called “At the End of Daybreak.”
‘Tuya’s Marriage’ director stands out at four-day market
Film production house now valued over $1.5 bil
November 1, 2009
A Good Rain Knows (Variety review)
A Good Rain Knows
Ho woo shijeol
(South Korea-China) An NEW (in South Korea)/Zonbo Media (in China) release of a Pancinema (South Korea)/Zonbo Media (China) presentation of a Pancinema, Ho Films, Taurus Films (South Korea)/Zonbo Media (China) production. (International sales: Pancinema, Seoul.) Produced by Paek Myeong-seon, Chen Weiming, Hur Jin-ho, Kim Yeon-hak. Executive producers, Park, Chen. Co-executive producer, Lee Gang-bok. Directed by Hur Jin-ho. Screenplay, Lee Han-eol, Hur.
With: Jeong Woo-seong, Gao Yuanyuan, Kim Sang-ho, Ma Shaohua, Li Fenghua, Yan Feng.
(English, Korean, Chinese dialogue)
By DEREK ELLEY
The good news is that Hur Jin-ho, South Korea’s master of meller minutiae (”Christmas in August”), has bounced back with one of his finest pictures, after the soupy “April Snow” and flawed “Happiness.” The bad news is that, at least in Anglophone territories, “A Good Rain Knows” is virtually DOA, due to the stiff acting in English of the two leads in this Korean-Chinese co-production. Subtitled in non-Anglo markets, this could still have some arthouse chances, though locally it failed to make much of a B.O. mark on its October release.
The film began as the present-day episode in “Chengdu, I Love You,” a three-part portmanteau movie inspired by last year’s earthquake in Sichuan province, China. Along the way, Hur decided he needed a canvas larger than 30 minutes and went his own way with a standalone feature.
The dismembered version of “Chengdu” preemed at this year’s Venice fest with only Cui Jian’s and Fruit Chan’s segs. (Hur did a half-hour demo cut of his seg, to prove his point to producers, but this was never shown to outsiders.) In China, “Rain” will be marketed as part two of the “Chengdu” stories.
It’s spring in the Sichuan capital, and Park Dong-ha (Jeong Woo-seong) arrives on a brief business trip involving the job of rebuilding after the 2008 earthquake. While there, he bumps into Mei (Gao Yuanyuan), an English-speaking tourist guide with whom he once had a relationship when both were studying in the U.S. Thrown together for a short, intense period, they reinvestigate their feelings for each other.
With almost zero plot, the film is built entirely on emotional texture. Mei playfully claims they never actually dated at the time; Park claims they did. Meanwhile, she has to come to a painful decision when he leaves for the airport the next day — which leads to her revealing something she’s kept secret during their friendly flirtation.
The clumsy English title refers to a text by Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, about how spring rain “knows” when to fall and bring nature back to life. Hur seeps the movie in imagery — succulently lensed in crisp colors by Kim Byeong-seo — that could have been purely touristy wrapping but here supports the story’s theme of metaphysical renewal: walks in bamboo-forested Du Fu Park, locals dancing at night, street life in the Sichuan capital. And at the center is the ever-smiling face of Mei, whose bright exterior conceals an emotional vacuum.
Given that the pair can communicate only in English, Hur wisely keeps dialogue between the two to a minimum, but their exchanges (and especially Gao’s English) are so arch that the delicate atmosphere fractures whenever they open their mouths. When acting in their own languages, the thesps are fine.
Culturally, the pic is fascinating. Though wholly set in China, it has a totally Korean feel in look and rhythm. Even Gao (”City of Life and Death,” “Shanghai Dreams”), who’s never looked more beautiful, has been given the cute look of a South Korean actress. And between the jokes (for Korean auds) about Chinese food and driving, at least one drinking sequence — between Dong-ha and his Korean liaison (Kim Sang-ho) — might just as well have been set in a Seoul bar.
Handsome, besuited Jeong, the “Good” in “The Good the Bad the Weird,” shows the problems of melding more formal Korean with looser Chinese acting styles, and often looks stiff opposite the enchanting Gao. Kim provides some boisterous character color in his several scenes.
Technical package is immaculate on all levels, with Lee Jae-jin’s fretted score adding further delicate texture. Original title means “Season of Good Rain.”
Camera (color, widescreen), Kim Byeong-seo; editor, Choi Jae-geun; music, Lee Jae-jin; art director, Lu Dong; sound (Dolby SRD), Gao Ying, Seong Woon-yong, Lee In-gyu; sound designers, Lee Ho-jun, Lee Dong-hwan. Reviewed at Pusan Film Festival (market), Oct. 12, 2009. Running time: 100 MIN.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941518.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction (Variety review)
Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction
Jiqi xia
(China) A China Film Group release of a www.letv.com, Beijing Xiaoma Benteng Film & TV Culture Development, Xi’an Mei Ah Culture Communication, Shanghai Film Group, Xi’an Qujiang Film & TV Investment Group, Beijing Xin Ying Lian Film Co., Zhejiang Le Shi Zhenwei Film & TV production. (International sales: Infotainment China, Beijing.) Produced by Zhuo Shunguo. Executive producers, Jia Yueting, Li Ming, Li Kuo-hsing, Ren Zhonglun, Wu Tianming, Huang Qunfei. Directed by Jeff Lau. Screenplay, Kei On.
With: Hu Jun, Sun Li, Alex Fong, Gan Wei, Ronald Cheng, Wu Jing, Eric Tsang, Law Ka-ying.
(Mandarin dialogue)
By DEREK ELLEY
Hong Kong genre-mulcher Jeff Lau (”A Chinese Tall Story,” “A Chinese Odyssey”) weighs in with a China-backed “Transformers” ripoff that will have hardcore action fans holding down the fast-forward button to get to the meat. Typically playing with auds’ expectations (juiced by the title and action-heavy trailer), “Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction” is more a quirky comic tale of robot love than a pedal-to-the-metal f/x feast, and viewed in that light, it’s thoroughly engaging, thanks to lead perfs by mainlanders Hu Jun and Sun Li. Pic hauled in a warm $7.5 million in China in August, but tanked in Hong Kong.
Xu Dachun (Hu), head cop in a picturesque small town in Zhejiang province, is asked by TN Research head Lin Xiang (Hong Kong’s Eric Tsang, gratingly unfunny) to road-test his latest android, K-1 (Alex Fong), by giving the droid a place on staff. K-1 promptly falls for cute female cop Zhou Sumei (Sun), for whom Xu has been carrying a torch ever since her late father asked him to look after her.
With his superpowers, K-1 helps out Xu on one mission, but Xu is still leery of the android, who was never programmed to deal with love. Only at the halfway mark, when K-1 has to deal with a rogue cyborg, K-88 (mainland martial-arts star Wu Jing), and “saves” Xu’s life by turning him into a robot as well, does the real action kick in. K-1 ends up even more confused when he gets a lesson in robot’s rights from K-88.
Script is littered with jokes about Chinese movie stars and even references to Lau’s erstwhile filming partner, Wong Kar-wai — the film is set in, uh, 2046 — but at heart, it’s a genre riff on human-vs.-android feelings, and whether there’s much difference between the two. As K-88 notes, “God created Man and Man created machines. Man can question God, so why can’t machines question Man?”
Hu (”Red Cliff”) is looking increasingly relaxed in lighter roles, and here he’s nicely partnered with up-and-coming Sun (”Fearless,” “Painted Skin”), whose likable work in the central role keeps the pic interesting during down time. Fong, with an Elvis hairdo and a pasty android face, is too constrained by his emotionless role; Wu has more physical presence in his scattered appearances.
“Transformers”-like effects are smoothly done, and Edmond Fung’s widescreen lensing of the traditional-looking Ningbo locations are always well composed. Other credits are all quality. Chinese title simply means “Robot Hero.”
Camera (color, widescreen), Edmond Fung; editors, Angie Lam, Wong Wing-ming; music, Mark Lui, Ronald Cheng; production designer, Bill Lui; art director, Liu Jingping; costume designer, Zhao Zhiying, Zou Jianhua; sound (Dolby Digital); visual effects, Xian Tao Digital; visual effects supervisor, Ma Yongan; second unit camera, Choi Man-lung; assistant directors, Lau Wai-keung, Chan Ho-ming. Reviewed on DVD, London, Oct. 29, 2009. (Also in Tokyo Film Festival — Winds of Asia-Middle East.) Running time: 102 MIN.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941519.html?categoryid=31&cs=1